Author's Note: I feel like I need to remind you guys that this was unbeta-ed. AND THIS WAS DONE AT 02.05 IN THE MORNING. So...

Chapter 2: Two Bells, One Eye.

"Begin!" his voice boomed across the clearing.

And the three genins scattered.

Kakashi was disappointed. The test had only just begun and he could already see the three of them failing. He had predicted it when they had their little chat the day before in the Academy roof. And the first 10 seconds of the test had proven his predictions to be true. The moment he stated that only two people will pass, all three of them looked at each other as if their teammates were shinobi from Kumo (well, two. Naruto kind of just stood there with his mouth agape).

When the Sandaime gave out the paperwork of this team, Kakashi was strangely hopeful. Hopeful that this team would turn out differently than all the other teams he had tested before. Hopeful, that maybe this team would show at least some form of anything remotely resembling of any kind of teamwork. Sadly, by the rate the test was going, he had low expectations that this team would meet his criteria to pass.

This team was definitely his most star-studded one yet, though; with the last loyal Uchiha and the boy with the sealed beast. The growth of these two would surely attract the attention of the higher-ups of the village, especially Naruto's growth, considering that the majority of the village regarded the genin as a ticking time bomb. He tried not to think about Minato-sensei every time he looked at the blond, which was hard. Mainly because they looked so similar it physically pained him not to give the familiarities a second thought.

The blond in question was hiding behind a tree just north of where Kakashi was standing. It didn't take a sensor to know where he was. His chakra reserves were so large it beamed like a beacon in the night. The Uzumaki's hands were fiddling with something which looked suspiciously like a trap. Huh, what do you know, his prankster days sure were a nuisance, but it did have its use. He had to give him credit regarding that trapping skills later, since nobody in the academy ever written or pointed it out.

The reports regarding Naruto were strangely biased.

Most of the academy teachers wrote his inability to follow even the basic instructions, his failure to contribute anything useful in class, horrible katas and shuriken-throwing skills, and the list went on. Heck, in all the years the boy went to the academy, the only praise he ever got was from the teacher from his last year, Iruka Umino. Iruka mentioned something about determination, and a strong sense of moral. He also pointed out that Naruto's stamina were miles ahead his peers, thanks to the horribly destructive (but hopefully in a good way) combo of the Kyuubi and the Uzumaki blood.

Good. Kakashi thought, stamina can determine whether you live or die someday.

The last (loyal) Uchiha was perched on a branch on the opposite of the field from Naruto. Unlike the blond though, Sasuke was being perfectly still. His right hand firmly grasping the branch he was on, his left hand hovering around his weapon pouch, ready to strike. It was clear from his stance that this kid has some kind of an aggressive nature; ready to trample his so-called teammates just so that he could pass.

Kakashi sighed. This was the type of arrogance that was such a pain to deal with. More importantly, this was the kind of arrogance that will definitely not make this team pass his test. Pride was a useless thing for a shinobi to have. He'd seen numerous skilled ninja died in vain, all because of their toxic pride. He'd have to remember to drill that into the boy's head if the team passed.

And that was a very big if.

As expected from the academy's top of the class, Sasuke's taijutsu and ninjutsu skill were reportedly above average. His speed in particular was noted to even be faster than the genins a grade above him. There has been no note regarding his sharigan state, whether he has awoken them or not. It could be possible that the boy was deliberately hiding his sharingan, or maybe he really hasn't manifested them yet.

The problem with the Uchiha was a problem commonly found in prodigies of big clans in Konoha: their head was too damn big. They're so full of themselves that in extreme cases they refused to seek help from others and resulted in their own, or others' death. Their cooperation skills are so low, it became funny. Kakashi would've laughed if he weren't one of those stuck up prodigies back in the days.

And now to the third member.

The pink haired kunoichi, Sakura Haruno, was not as well-known as her teammates. Came from a ninja background –both parents were active chuunins –and was adequate enough to be placed on a team as politically infested by the village as this one. Her academy marks were above average, but not enough to actually impress him. Her genjutsu marks though, were notably high. It seemed that when the Hokage was designing this team, he envisioned her as the support and disruptor while Sasuke and Naruto beat the enemy up. Classic assault team strategy. Always the simplest and often times most effective.

It took him a second longer –two seconds actually, but who cares about the details –to find her silently crouching under a bush near where Sasuke was. The jonin subtly glanced at her direction. She had a small opening on the bush, enough for her to have perfect visual of where he was standing in the middle of the clearing. He can't help but also notice that she had covered herself in a cloaking genjutsu, and tried to suppress her chakra. He had skimmed through the new curriculum that these kids were having, and he was certain that they had only covered chakra suppressing techniques in theory, but never in practice. Which meant that she had managed to figure that out by herself, or it was taught to her by her chuunin parents. The second option, he figured, was much more likely.

He was tempted to test out her proficiency in genjutsu when a barrage of wired shuriken flew at him. Sure, the wires made the shurikens slightly harded to dodge, but it wasn't that difficult for him.

Because, you know, elite Jonin.

But he had to hand it to Naruto there. The shurikens were sort of creative.

Kakashi gracefully twisted out of the way without leaving his eyes from the erotic literature he was reading.

Naruto –or, Naruto-s, considering there were six of him –jumped out of his hiding spot and charged towards him with a kunai in his right hand. The Jonin's eyes widened a little, the academy stated that the boy wasn't even proficient to create one single clone, and now there was six of him, and all of them were solid. He wondered the credibility of the academy, these days.

Kakashi dodged every single one of the attacks Naruto and his clones sent to him. Stepping and leaning left and right easily. It really didn't take a genius to see that some of his katas were flawed, and sometimes incomplete. Naruto obviously had the brute strength and the energy, but the technique just wasn't there. Which wasn't that surprising, the former Anbu thought, since nobody was willing to teach him.

With a roundhouse kick, Kakashi dispelled all of his clones, and left the blond lying on the ground. His eyes still glued on his orange-covered book.

"Hm. I can't decide if you're ballsy or just stupid." Kakashi remarked.

"Shut up you pervert. I'm not done with you, yet!" the blond shouted while trying to stand up.

Kakashi knew the boy wasn't that stupid, considering he mastered a forbidden technique in one day. But it was fun nonetheless to tease him.

Naruto made a face, and was just about to spat out another remark when a barrage of shuriken hit his sensei spot on. Unlike Naruto's shuriken though, this time the shurikens were covered in fire.

Kakashi fortunately substituted just in time with a log to not get any damage. It seemed like it was a new trend to throw sharp objects with certain modifications at him. He observed from his new hiding spot as Naruto sat up with his jaw on the floor, definitely thinking that Sasuke had just killed his sensei, and other similarly horrible thoughts.

"What the hell, bastard? Watch where you throw! You could've killed me."

The raven haired boy darted out of his spot on the tress into the clearing. He inspected where Kakashi's corpse should have been, and cursed. At least one of the two had figured out his use of Substitution no Jutsu.

"If I wanted to hit you, I would have done it already. Now get outta my sight."

Kakashi sighed, this was going to be one hell of a long day.

Sakura hated Kabuto.

More specifically, Sakura hated when Kabuto was right. Which was always.

Basically, Sakura hated Kabuto.

Kabuto had been mentoring her for years now. Ever since she was dispatched into this village when she was four, Kabuto had been her teacher. There had been no substitute, which wasn't weird. Since they were the only two Orochimaru-sama's spies here, as far as she knew.

So yeah, Kabuto had been teaching her since forever. And one of the first lessons she taught her was the lesson of observing.

She was taught this lesson when she was five. And like most five year olds, she had a love for things that go boom. So she was hoping that he'd teach her cool techniques or even let her mess with explosive tags. But no, they spent most of that year learning how to sit still, breathe quietly, and observe.

(Sure, she was supposed to be good at gathering information or whatever, since that was her job. But you can't blame a five year old at that time to think that those lessons were mind-numbingly boring.)

One of the things he said after she was deemed adequate enough for them to move on to another lesson was, and she quoted, "When you're finally in combat, you'd thank me someday for teaching you this one."

And since she was in a kind-of-combat right now, she had the smallest urge to thank Kabuto because observing and gathering information was such a useful tool, she grudgingly admit. But the urge was there nonetheless. Her hate for Kabuto intensified.

(And sure, it was stupid for her to hate someone who taught her useful skills. But right now she was handling with a lot of puberty hormones and adrenaline. And also, you'd probably hate someone who was never proud of you on any occasion, and always undermine your accomplishment with some smart, twisted words. Ugh, that prick.)

The moment Kakashi signaled that the test had begun; she went for the hiding space near the bushes with an uncovered view of the clearing. Her eyes never left her soon-to-be sensei as she quickly made the hand sign to cast a cloaking genjutsu around her, and tried to suppress her chakra as strong as she could. She knew that the Jonin won't be fooled by a simple trick of visual genjutsu, since not only he has the Sharingan, but also because she knew he could at least detect her chakra, however small it was. But she had hoped that it would at least hide her from the other two, if they had any funny ideas. She tried to sense her teammates, and managed to pinpoint Naruto's location on her left, and Sasuke, who was closer to her, on her right. After she was finished trying to make herself hidden, she waited.

It wasn't until ten minutes of tense silence that a whirl of wired shuriken flew towards Kakashi. And obviously, he dodged all of them. She wasn't really surprised. In fact, she would've been more surprised if those shurikens actually hit its mark.

What actually surprised her was Naruto.

She knew that he was capable of fiddling with ninja tools. She'd seen him making modifications of the tools to suit his pranking endeavors, so she wasn't all that amazed by now that he could at least make wired shurikens. What surprised her, however, were his clones. Last time she checked, Naruto wasn't even capable of making a single clone, which made him fail on the graduation test. And now, not only did he pass the test; he could duplicate himself three times of the bare minimum –which was two. He didn't even look tired one bit. She wasn't even sure that six is the maximum number of clones Naruto can make.

The coolest part, however, was that those clones seemed solid. She copied a scroll of a justu called Shadow Clone Jutsu a year ago for Kabuto. He personally asked for this scroll because Orochimaru asked him to learn it. But back them, he suspiciously asked her to take it for him because a) He didn't have the time to take it himself. (Psh) and b) It was training for her. (Psh again.) (Really, was it so hard for him to just say that some jobs aren't accessible for him and can only be done by her?) (That prideful twat.)

She watched as Kakashi-sensei easily dispelled all of Naruto's clones, and left Naruto lying on the ground on his wake. She sighed in disappointment, even if his clone technique is impressive, it was still kind of stupid to challenge a famed Jonin in a close ranged combat.

In fact, it was actually stupid to challenge a famed Jonin at all.

She felt Sasuke's chakra flare, indicating he was doing a jutsu. Most likely a fire style. She had watched Sasuke over the years, and was quite impressed that he could master an elemental ninjutsu at such a young age.

Kabuto hadn't even touched the subject of elemental release yet, that bum.

Flaming shuriken hit Kakashi-sensei right in the chest. She wasn't worried though, she felt him reached out his chakra to a log just in time to substitute. As the decoy of what was once Kakashi-sensei fell down, Sasuke jumped out, trying to check if he truly killed their sensei.

HA, as if.

Once the raven found out that he didn't actually murder someone for the first time today, which he signaled by a very audible curse, he tried to get away from the scene as soon as possible. Probably a good idea, since he gave away his position to everyone. Naruto, too, after he gotten over his initial shock of what the fuck just happened, got up, and jogged to the opposite direction Sasuke went.

Good.

Now her sensei was staying static. Not really moving anywhere, because he must've thought that nobody knew where he was hiding. This was perfect for her, since it seemed she was the only one to sense his location. When she attacks him later, he won't expect it, which in turn made his bells more vulnerable for her to take. The boys already tried getting the bells, and it must've taken a toll on their chakra reserves at least slightly. Well, Sasuke's has, Naruto didn't even use an eighth of his.

Okay, now she would just have to silently sneak to Kakashi's hiding spot, cast a dazing genjutsu just enough to snatch the bells, and then run to one of the othe–

"Hello Sakura."

What the fuck.

She turned around with a kunai in hand to see that yes, it was Kakashi-sensei who stood behind her. She unconsciously tried to scan for his chakra signature, and found almost none on the person in front of her. That's why she didn't feel it when he was standing so close to her.

Wait.

She also felt Kakashi's signature on his hiding spot. The chakra felt significantly stronger that the one standing in front of her.

"You're a clone." she stated boldly

"That I am. Curiously, Sakura, the academy never mentioned that you were a sensor," Kakashi said, tilting his head slightly to the right like a curious cat. "What they did mention however, was your noteworthy ability of genjutsu."

Kabuto said to never show of any skills in class. But for whatever reason, he said genjutsu was the only exception of that rule.

"Let's test that, shall we?"

She didn't have time to process that sentence as the clone morphed into flying leaves, surrounding her in an endless spiral upwards. The forest started to disappear little by little. Her mind tried to assess the situation she was in as images of burning rooftops and smoky houses started to enter her sight.

It was quite hard to make any sort of intellectual train of thought as the smell of burned rice paddies entered her mind. She was currently standing on a dirt road in the middle of a small village. Scratch that, she was standing in the middle of small burning village. She saw ninja in musical note headbands burning every single inch of that beautiful village and oh God she was going to puke.

Calm yourself, this isn't what it looks like. You're in Konoha. You're safe.

She clamped her hands together for a proper hand-sign, and spiked her chakra to cancel the genjutsu.

The burning village disappeared, leaving no marks on the surrounding trees. Her knees wobbled and she fell to the ground. It wasn't so much as the genjutsu, but the memories that was attached to it that made her feel drained. Her left hand went to her forehead, wiping some sweat.

You're in Konoha. You're safe, for now.

Kakashi was perched on a branch high up in the trees, his eyes still buried on his beloved orange work of art. He scanned his three students. Sakura was still sitting next to a bush where she'd been sitting since the beginning of the test. She managed to break free from his genjutsu, which was expected considering her grades. But she hadn't really moved since she cancelled the jutsu, maybe it was because of the shock? Hell-viewing Technique showed a person's deepest fear. Maybe it was too much for a cute little genin. Kakashi would understand, these kids weren't used to be exposed to anything remotely resembled as pressure in their academy days.

Maybe Sasuke and Naruto might have, but not Sakura.

Naruto was sitting behind a tree, while Sasuke was now on the move. Jumping branches to branches moving closer to Kakashi's location.

Kakashi sighed, here we go again.

Kakashi stepped out of his hiding spot to the clearing. He thought that it'll give better chances for Sasuke to land a hit if the terrain was more suitable for combat. Just as he expected, Sasuke leaped up from the trees to land a kick on him. Without looking up from his book, he side-stepped to the left, causing the boy to miss his target entirely. He turned a page.

Sasuke followed the kick with a sequence of basic-academy taijutsu. The raven aimed a right jab at his face, which he ducked as a kick followed said jab. This continued as Sasuke transitioned from one move to another flawlessly. Kakashi had to admit, the boy's form was almost perfect. Every kick was purposeful and every punch was precise. No movement was wasted. The boy's physical conditioning was above average for a genin as well. He was agile and powerful at the same time; moving in an unexpectedly fast pace.

That didn't mean Kakashi couldn't dodge every single one of his attacks though.

"Your attacks are surprisingly adequate, Sasuke, but unfortunately predictable. Maybe you should step it up a notch?" Kakashi said through his mask.

Sasuke's eyebrow ticked. He delivered a one-two punch which was blocked by the Jonin's right hand. Sasuke then delivered roudhouse kick, aiming at the reading man's legs. Kakashi simply jumped back a few meters, which made space between him and the genin.

"Well, I guess that's all you've got then? Pity how the great Uchiha clan is now reduced to the like of you." Kakashi remarked, trying to rile the boy up. He felt a strange, fucked up sense of self-accomplishment as he saw the boy became furious.

Sasuke might have been slightly ticked at the Jonin's behavior before, but now he was pissed. Not only was the Jonin not taking him seriously, but he was also goading him while he was at it.

This time, he doubled up his speed. He leaped to deliver a kick to the Jonin's face, who blocked it easily with his left hand. He jumped back before delivering a series of fiery punches, all of which was dodged by Kakashi without breaking a sweat. Sasuke twisted his body to the left to deliver a turning kick to the shoulder, when Kakashi's eyes widened, and the attack hit.

Kakashi wasn't the only one surprised by the attack landing on its mark. Sasuke's eyes were equally widened. His mouth parted a little before twisting into a trademark smirk, confidence radiating off him. To hit a Jonin at his level meant that all of his training paid off.

Kakashi staggered sideways a bit by the force of the kick. Sasuke wasted no time following the kick with an aggressive lunge towards the bell, grazing his fingers at the shiny metal before Kakashi twisted his waist away from the boy's hands. The Uchiha gracefully summersaulted before landing on the ground, facing the Jonin.

"Still think that's all I've got?" Sasuke said lowly.

Kakashi shrugged noncommittally, "Lucky hit. I wasn't expecting that one. I doubt it'll happen again though." He finished. His eyes darted to the left, in the direction of a bush.

Sasuke proceeded to launch himself at Kakashi, delivering punches and kicks to no avail. Kakashi dodged and danced around him, before tripping the boy's right foot, causing him to summersault away. He landed on both feet, as Kakashi eyed him with a returning disinterest.

"See? I told you. Lucky hit." The Jonin remarked.

Sasuke was royally angry now. This person just wouldn't shut up. He went to a series of hand seals, before launching a fireball from his mouth. Fire Style: Fireball Justu. He pushed an extra amount of chakra into this particular jutsu, forcing it to burn longer and hotter than usual, hopefully burning the man to crisp.

The ground where his sensei once stood was engulfed in red hot flames. The explosion charred the ground to rubbles and a smear of black. Sasuke walked to take a closer look. He was slightly disappointed to find that there was no dead, burned, masked body on said ground.

Sasuke cursed, another substitution, he scanned his surrounding for his sensei. Where could he possibly be? His instinct guided him to search all the directions his sensei could be attacking him from. Left, right, front, back, up. Nothing.

"The academy trained you quite well, Sasuke," the Jonin's voice said, surrounding the raven, "but I guess they didn't train you to look down." he finished as he dragged the boy's ankle (and consequently, the rest of his body) underground.

Sakura watched with a slight disappointment from the bushes as Sasuke was dragged underground by that vicious son of a bitch. Sasuke looked positively annoyed, but it had no real menace to it, considering only his head was above the ground. Kakashi poofed into existence near the boy's head with a condescending smile. She caught bits and pieces of the Jonin's lecture to the boy; something about 'power' and 'loyalty'. She couldn't care less, to be honest. What she cared about, however, was that the Jonin's back was turned to her spot.

She didn't have any delusion that she could defeat the Jonin in a direct combat. It was stupid to think like that, and Sakura believed that she was anything but. She knew that the same genjutsu wouldn't work on the man. At least, it wouldn't work twice. She casted an C-class genjutsu on the Jonin when he was fighting Sasuke. She felt her jutsu latched to the Jonin, milliseconds before the Uchiha's kick landed. Genjustu: Bewildering Steps causes the target to feel unbalanced and shaky, as if an earthquake happened. This sometimes led to a dizzying and nauseous feeling if not dispelled soon. Kabuto gave her a scroll of this justu as a birthday present when she was ten years old. She didn't know if that was accidental or intentional on Kakashi's part to be caught by a genjustu as simple as that, but what she knew was that it won't happen again.

But still, seeing as the Jonin was preoccupied lecturing Sasuke with his guard down and back facing her, and with Naruto nowhere to be seen, she couldn't miss out on this opportunity. She had read multiple battles and cases of weaker parties who won battles only because their enemy let their guard down. She knew that strength wasn't the only deciding factor in combat, element of surprise, luck, and environment, were also crucial factors determining the outcome of a battle.

She knew that at least the element of surprise was still there for her. Kakasih won't suspect her to attack again after that genjutsu stunt she pulled on his fight with Sasuke.

Even if she didn't get the bells, at least it would show Kakashi that she wasn't one to be disregarded. At least it would show effort on her part.

She tried to remember the tactics of surprise attack Kabuto told her on their training; his voice muttering tips and pointers in her head. Sometimes she wondered if every student has their teacher's voice talking shit in their heads, or if it was just her. She focused herself on what the white haired guy said about ambushing.

First, know where your target is.

She eyed Kakashi's waist to see where the bells were hanging, untouched. The Jonin was still talking to Sasuke, his back was still turned to her.

Prep yourself.

She absentmindedly ran her right hand to her pouch, feeling her kunais and senbons, her hand stopped to grip a set of kuani tied to smoke bombs. This morning she deliberated if she should clad her weapons with Orochimaru-sama's poison or not, but she decided against it. She doubt that this was what he meant by emergency. Her left hand formed a seal to subdue her chakra's presence as hard as she could. She closed her eyes to scan for Naruto's chakra. He was sitting down near the logs far away from them. Good, she thought, he won't be an obstacle.

Cause a distraction.

She opened her eyes and threw two smoke bomb tied kunai at the Jonin. She spiked her chakra with a hand sign to explode the smoke bomb. The explosion caused the kunai to completely escape its intended trajectory, but it didn't matter, because the attack has served its purpose. Gray, and thick, smokescreen filled the clearing, reducing visibility to only a couple of meters. Smoke had always been her first choice of distraction in combat, even when training with Kabuto. Mainly because it gave her exclusive benefit of pinpointing location of everyone even in an open field, due to her chakra-sensory abilities, while also crippling others' visibility.

She ran through a series of hand signs quickly, and silently cast a stunning B-Class Genjutsu.

Genjutsu: Heavyweight

This was one of the few high classed and trickier genjutsu Kabuto showed her recently. It basically messed with the motoric part of the brain to inflict a sense of heaviness when they try to move their limbs. The target will be left stunned, unable to move an inch of their body, or even cast the proper hand sign to dispel the genjutu.

Of course, it only took Kakashi half a second to realize that he was trapped in a genjutsu, and another half to spike his chakra to dispel it. But that was all Sakura needed.

Attack fast, finish quickly.

The pink haired girl commanded chakra to her heels, and released it to propel herself forward, kunai in her right hand. She hoped the smoke and her chakra suppression technique masked her presence enough for the attack to work. She scanned and locked Kakashi's chakra, focusing on his waist where the bells hung innocently, free for her to take. She jumped forward to snatch the bell, hands outstretched. It was literally right there.

A glove clad hand captured her wrist in a death grip as her pointer touched the bell. She looked up to meet the Jonin's eyes. He looked at her curiously, almost confused, with his eyebrow raised and his eyes fierce, almost calculating. And the two of them were stuck there, staring at each other for a millisecond or two, Sakura being midair and the Jonin being confused.

Well, that was before the Jonin's grip on her wrist became more secure, and he flung her all the way across the clearing.

The girl twisted midair, while trying to land on both feet. She cursed Kakashi internally on her aerial journey to the cold hard ground for throwing her and being such an ass, but mostly for throwing her. She did land on both feet, before the momentum of the fall pushed her backwards, forcing her to lie on her back on the ground.

With her hand outstretched to the sides, her hair dirty with dirt, her battle dress torn, and her kunai nowhere in hand –she suspected it fell from when Kakashi threw her –she wondered how this test could get any worse.

She muttered a small fuck my life when the bell rang loudly, signaling the end of the test.

"Hey! How come I'm the only one tied to a freaking log!?" Naruto exclaimed; his hands and legs flailing around him through the secure ropes binding him to a large training log. His expression settled to a juvenile scowl at his sensei, the one who, Sakura presumed, tied the boy there.

The Jonin in question smiled, followed by a cheerful "Because you were the only one who tried to steal the lunch, Naruto, plus the other two managed to at least touch the bell, which you also failed to accomplish. That's already two charges against you." Kakashi finished. Naruto deflated, and proceeded to sulk.

She let out an annoyed sigh and messaged her forehead with her hand. Naruto had done some stupid things in the past, but trying to steal lunch when their famed future Jonin-sensei had specifically told you not to was definitely top five. Really, he has outdone himself.

She casted a glance at Sasuke, who was sulking and looked annoyed. (Well, more than the usual dose) She figured that it must have been embarrassing for him to be caught in that jutsu, with only his head above the ground. He seemed angry at himself, irritated because he failed.

"So, remember what I said about how the ones that fail will have to go back to the academy?" Kakashi-sensei began.

Sakura gulped, and glanced at Naruto. She knew that none of the succeed completing the original task given. But Sasuke and she managed to at least touched the bells. While Naruto…

Naruto seemed to share her thoughts about where the Jonin was going with his statement. The blond ducked his head down, anticipating the bad news from Kakashi-sensei.

"I think the three of you should just quit being a ninja." He said curtly. His tone was dead-serious, his face blank –devoid of all the playful emotion he projected since the day before.

She felt Sasuke tensing, and Naruto's eyes widened in shock. Sakura herself was at loss of words. She knew that none of them managed to snatch the bells, but not one, but two people from this team managed to touch the bells. She was willing to bet her kidney that that was the closest any of Kakashi's past student had ever gotten, surely that counted for something.

"But Sasuke and I… touched the bells..." Sakura began unsurely, she wasn't gonna lie, this Kakashi intimidated her.

The masked man looked at her, his eyes squinting, scrutinizing her. She wanted to cover herself from the intensity that radiated off him. Kakashi-sensei proceeded to look at each member of the team, before finally settling his eyes on her once more.

"Did you honestly think this test was about getting the bells? Did any of you honestly think you could win against a Jonin alone?" the Jonin asked in a serious tone.

Sakura merely shook her head slowly, as Naruto looked confused, and Sasuke kept silent, unmoving from his spot. His face remained rigid and tense.

"The fact that none of you even figured out the true purpose of the test shows enough how unequipped you are for the real world of shinobi." The Jonin finished.

Sakura watched from her peripheral vision as Sasuke dashed to Kakashi-sensei, kunai in hand aiming for the throat. She was slightly impressed by the boy's speed, and judging by Naruto's opening jaw, the blond did too. But unfortunately, Kakashi-sensei was faster. Before Sakura could even figure out what the hell was going on, Sasuke was already pressed on the ground, kunai on his throat. The masked man was standing on top of him, his foot pressing the boy's torso to the ground.

"See? Stunts like this are one of the reasons you three failed. I wasn't done speaking." Kakashi pressed his foot harder down.

"The purpose of the test is teamwork," Kakashi began, "that was the purpose of having a four man team. So that teamwork can be implemented and missions can be done efficiently. Being on a team also means that sometimes, personal agenda and glory," Kakashi pressed his foot on Sasuke again, "needs to be casted aside for the mission to succeed."

The Jonin finally released Sasuke, and made a couple of steps back. Sakura rushed to help the raven stand up, but was brushed aside with a jerk of an arm. The boy stood up and averted any form of eye-contact with his team.

"But," the Jonin began again, his voice softer this time, "I can't deny the potential in this team presents. So I'm going to let you guys try again."

Sakura could instantly felt the change of mood on her team. Naruto's face glowed and looked positively thrilled. Even Sasuke's eyes turned hopeful.

"After lunch, we're going to try to do the test again. In the meantime, don't give Naruto any lunch. If you do, I will disqualify all three of you." He ended with a curt tone. He put down two boxes of bento on the ground, and pooffed out of existence.

The three of them stared at the bento for a while, silently, unblinking, before Sakura broke the spell by walking to pick the bento up. She mulled over what Kakashi-sensei said as she and Sasuke broke their chopstick to eat their lunch. Something didn't quite add up, the whole premise and purpose of this test was built on the instilling teamwork, team spirit, solidarity. That was why there were only two bells; to fuck with their heads make them turn against each other, Sakura concluded. On that test, they were supposed to show solidarity and try to take the bells together, regardless of the outcome. So if that was what Kakashi-sensie was championing, it would be inconsistent for him to deliberately leave only two boxes of bento. It wouldn't be in line with what he taught earlier. Unless…

Her eyes widened, unless this was another test…

A test of whether they have the team spirit, and were willing to break rules for each other. She didn't know if this was the case or not, but she decided that there were no real harm in trying. (Because, she honestly felt that even when the three of them worked together, they would still be overpowered by Kakashi-sensi, so no real point in doing the test again…) Now she only had to act convincing, she could sense Kakashi near them, but she couldn't exactly pinpoint where exactly. She gathered rice on the tip of her chopstick and brought it to Naruto, the same time Sasuke did.

"Here."

"Eat up, dobe."

Sakura widened her eyes at Sasuke, surprised he had also figured out the meaning of the test. The raven also had his eyes fixated on her. His eyes surprised, but wasn't hostile in any sort of way. (Which was considered, sadly, a development for the boy from his usual self)

Naruto, on the other hand…

"G-guys, what are you doing?", the blond said in an attempt-whisper, "He literally told you guys not to feed me! We're so screwed if he finds out…" he said in panicked eyes.

Sasuke growled, "Don't be stupid, dobe. You'll need energy to fight later. You'll drag us down more than usual if you're hungry." He finished as he shoved the chopstick closer to Naruto.

Sakura nodded in agreement, even though she still believed that if everything went exactly as she thought it would, they wouldn't even have to fight. "Besides, I think Kakashi-sensei is watching us." She said in a whisper. She watched as Naruto looked left and right in panic; scared that their scary sensei were standing right behind him. Sasuke also tried to look to his left and right, albeit more subtlety.

"I can't feel him anywhere." Sasuke remarked.

"Trust me, he's there. I can sense him." Sakura replied.

Sasuke looked at her for a second, before he finally settled to a conclusion, "You're a sensor."

She smiled; Kabuto had cautiously and continuously taught her to never disclose her abilities to the enemy. But when she saw Sasuke's grudging acceptance that there were things she could do better than him, and Naruto's awed and amazed expression, she couldn't help question why it was so bad to do this once in a while? She felt proud, and slightly cocky.

"Wow Sakura! That's so cool. How does it feel like? Does it feel like having twenty eyes, seeing everywhere at once? That must be so wicked." Naruto said.

Sakura smile at the boy. "I'll tell you how it feels like after you eat."

Naruto ate the rice, seemingly forgotten his concerns of Kakashi-sensei's prior threat. The blond was obviously hungry, as he devoured food from both Sakura and Sasuke's bento quickly. Sakura was still waiting for Kakashi-sensi to poofed out, and yell at them for disobeying him, or to come back with confetti and a parade of animals, each holding a letter from the word 'congratulations!'

But she honestly didn't know what to expect when Kakashi finally poofed into existence.

The three genin stared at him. And he stared right back.

The staring match was unbroken before his face broke into a proud smile.

"You guys pass."

And Sakura felt all kinds of energy left her body right there and then.

OKAY, that's that. Second chapter to hopefully many more.

Look, don't be afraid to point out wrong grammars or spellings and such.

I AM STILL LOOKING FOR A BETA! And I feel like I really really need one. So don't be afraid to approach me through PM or review. I don't bite. Much.

See ya!